4 X 7 Dreams

Act 1, Scene 11

2 Months Ago

He gets pulled aside one day by Yui to greet someone he's never met before, a coworker of his manager, probably.

"This is Hana," Yui tells him, motioning at the woman with long, dark hair, longer legs, and dark eyes. She wears a deep blue dress, and it looks nice on her figure.

"Sawasdee ka." Hana smiles at him.

Krist smiles back. "Sawasdee krub. Uh, P'Yui, what is it that you need?"

His manager sends him a disapproving look before shoving him closer to Hana. "This wasn't necessarily my idea, but there's been talk about you finding someone, even just for awhile. Get to know her."

"You consented to this?" he asks Hana, looking at the shorter woman, eyes wide.

"I'm...." Hana lets out a breath before nodding. "Yes."

Krist closes his eyes before nodding. "I see. I'll get to know her, but, P'Yui," he shakes his head, "I can't guarantee anything."

"Of course," Yui agrees, looking apologetic. "This wasn't my idea, Krist. I'm sorry."

"It's...," Krist sighs, "it's okay. I understand. Thank you." He turns to Hana. "I'm sorry."

Hana merely smiles at him.

She's actually not that bad, Krist decides after hanging out with her a couple days later. She's funny but not rude, gentle but not meek, and pretty but not boastful. Overall, she's actually kind of cool. He thinks they'd be really good friends had their meeting not been arranged by some higher ups.

Of course, this arrangement doesn't stop the rumors from spreading. Krist can't really do anything about them, though, because the rumors are the reason they were supposed to meet in the first place.

"Doesn't it make you feel weird?" Krist asks when they meet up for the third time, now at a quaint coffeeshop where they can just be.

Hana runs elegant fingers through her smooth hair, not looking particularly bothered. "No. Not really." She shrugs. "Maybe if I were in a relationship." She lifts a shoulder nonchalantly. "But I'm not. So it's okay."

"Oh," Krist says, and, shit, did she really have to say that?

"That makes sense," he adds.

As the worry grows in his chest, so does the doubt, the questions he still hasn't found the answers for.

"But I'm not," she continues easily, "so it's not really a big deal to me. I'm getting paid for this, anyway. A broke college student has to get money somehow, right?"

"Well," Krist says, heart still pounding in his ribcage, "you're doing great, so you certainly deserve your pay."

"Really?" she asks, stretching a pale arm across the table to dab her napkin at the corner of Krist's mouth. "That's good." She holds his gaze for a second before quickly sitting back in her seat, tucking her napkin in her lap as if nothing happened. "Fansite. Paparazzi. Reporter. Who knows. They were getting pictures. I figured this would benefit you."

Perhaps it benefits his public image, but... Krist drums his fingers on the table anxiously as he shoots her a pseudo-appreciative smile, he's not sure it necessarily benefits him.